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Rosacea Linked with Increase in Migraine

Women with rosacea may be more likely to experience migraine headaches than those without rosacea, according to findings reported in the medical journal Dermatology.1

In a study of 809 randomly selected workers, Drs. M. Berg and S. Liden of the Department of Dermatology at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden reported that 14 percent had experienced migraine, and that it was significantly more common in women.

Of the women with rosacea, 27 percent experienced migraine, compared with just 13 percent without rosacea. However, the increased incidence was found only in the age group between 50 and 60 years. Migraine was defined as a history of intense unilateral paroxysmal headache often accompanied by nausea and visual symptoms.

The authors speculated that changes in vascular reactivity caused by age-related modifications in sexual hormones might be the reason for this finding.

In their original study, the authors found that 10 percent of their study population had rosacea. They noted that the high incidence of rosacea may have been because this disorder is more common in people with light complexions, as in northern European countries like Sweden.

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